Text messaging to engage friends/family in diabetes self-management support: acceptability and potential to address disparities

Racial Disparities in Selected Complications and Comorbidities among People with Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a growing public health concern, disproportionately impacting racial and ethnic minorities. Assessing disparities is the first step towards achieving the translation goal to reduce disparities in diabetes outcomes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Division of Diabetes. We analyzed the data of patients (18+ years) diagnosed with T2D between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2017, using the electronic health records of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. We compared the crude rate and age-standardized rate (using direct method) of selected micro- and macrovascular complication rates, associated obesity, and insulin dependence among racial and ethnic groups. Our sample included 20,680 patients who made 394,106 visits (9922 non-Hispanic White patients, 4698 non-Hispanic Black patients, and 6060 Hispanic patients). Our results suggest a higher risk of acquiring macrovascular (hypertension, ischemic disease, and stroke) and microvascular (renal, ophthalmic, and neurological) complications in Black patients compared to non-Hispanic White and Hispanic patients. The rates of stage I or II obesity were higher in Black patients compared with White and Hispanic patients. The rates of insulin use rather than oral hypoglycemics were also higher in Black patients than White and Hispanic patients. The disparities in terms of the higher susceptibility to complications among Black patients are possibly linked to the socioeconomic disadvantages of this population, leading to poorer management. Prevention strategies are warranted to reduce the incidence of T2D complications in racial minorities.

Significance of fostering the mental health of patients with diabetes through critical time intervention

BACKGROUND

Critical time intervention (CTI) is an evidence-based model of practice that is time-limited and aims to provide support for most susceptible individuals during a transition period.

AIM

To examine the significance of fostering the mental health of diabetes patients through CTI using the scoping review methodology.

METHODS

As part of the scoping review process, we followed the guidelines established by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The search databases were Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Reference Citation Analysis (https://www.referencecitationanalysis.com/), and Cochrane Library. From these databases, 77 articles were retrieved with the aid of carefully selected search terms. However, 19 studies were selected after two reviewers appraised the full texts to ensure that they are all eligible for inclusion, while 54 papers were excluded.

RESULTS

This study revealed that diabetic patients who had experienced homelessness were at higher risk of being diagnosed with mental illness and that social support services are impactful in the management of the comorbidity of diabetes and mental health problems. In addition, this review reveals that CTI is impactful in enhancing the mental health of homeless patients during the transitional period from the hospital through social support services.

CONCLUSION

CTI is a promising intervention for alleviating mental health symptoms in homeless patients. Empirical studies are needed across the globe, involving both hospitalized and community-based patients, to determine how clinically effectively CTI is in managing the mental health of diabetics.

Prerandomization withdrawals from a Type 2 diabetes self-care support intervention trial are associated with lack of available support person coparticipant

OBJECTIVES

Dyadic interventions, involving two persons with a preexisting close relationship, offer the opportunity to activate support persons (SPs) to improve health for adults with chronic conditions. Requiring SP coparticipation can challenge recruitment and bias samples; however, the associations between voluntary SP coparticipation and recruitment outcomes across patient characteristics are unknown.

METHODS

The Family/Friend Activation to Motivate Self-care 2.0 randomized controlled trial (RCT) enrolled adults with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) from an academic health system. Participants were asked-but not required-to invite an SP to coenroll. Using data from the electronic health record we sought to describe RCT enrollment in the setting of voluntary SP coparticipation.

RESULTS

In a diverse sample of adults with (T2D) (48% female, 44% minoritized race/ethnicity), most participants (91%) invited SPs and (89%) enrolled with SPs. However, prerandomization withdrawal was significantly higher among participants who did not have consenting SPs than those who did. Females were less likely to invite SPs than males and more Black PWD were prerandomization withdrawals than randomized.

DISCUSSION

Voluntary SP coenrollment may benefit recruitment for dyadic sampling; however, more research is needed to understand if these methods systematically bias sampling and to prevent these unintended biases.

Dyadic digital health interventions: Their rationale and implementation

While most psychosocial and behavioral digital health interventions have been designed to be consumed by an individual, intervening at the level of a dyad - two interdependent individuals - can more comprehensively address the needs of both individuals and their relationship. The clinical utility of the dyadic digital health intervention approach, as well as the practical implementation of this design, will be demonstrated via three examples: eSCCIP, FAMS, and OurRelationship.

Family interventions for adults living with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A qualitative meta-synthesis

OBJECTIVE

Review and synthesize qualitative research on family interventions for adults living with type 2 diabetes.

METHODS

A qualitative metasynthesis was conducted. Analysis used imported concepts from realist evaluation - context, mechanisms, and outcomes.

RESULTS

Six studies met inclusion criteria in this qualitative systematic review. Powerful mechanisms were identified that occur outside the family intervention in the context of ethnic, racialized, and geographically defined groups. Many similarities were noted across contexts, such as low income. Mechanisms of interventions focused primarily on family member education. Outcomes were focused more on improving self-care behaviors, rather than family-oriented outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Systemic issues affecting social determinants of health set the context for family interventions for type 2 diabetes. When designing these interventions, intersectionality, scarcity, and family functioning may need to be considered.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Emphasis on education of family members may not be effective in improving diabetes outcomes, as many powerful mechanisms exist outside of these interventions.

Integrating family and friend support, information technology, and diabetes education in community-centric diabetes self-management

OBJECTIVE

Diabetes self-management (DSM) education, social support, and information technology interventions can improve patient engagement and health. A major challenge is animating, integrating, and accessing resources in under-resourced, rural communities. Set in an island community in Hawai'i, this study piloted a program that integrated friend-and-family support, community health services, telehealth-enabled DSM education, and mobile technologies by activating the community's social capital to support the program.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An action research approach informed the design and implementation of a community-based DSM program that included: friends and family support, telehealth classes, personalized consultations, Bluetooth-enabled blood glucose monitors, and text messaging support. Outcomes were evaluated using biometric data, surveys, interviews, and participant observations.

RESULTS

The study spanned 9 months with 7 dyads, each with 1 individual with type 2 diabetes and a friend or family member. Six of the 7 participants with diabetes experienced reduced hemoglobin A1c percentages, with 3 reducing by more than 1%. The seventh participant maintained a hemoglobin A1c level within American Diabetes Association recommended ranges. DSM knowledge and self-care behaviors improved overall. Interviews and participant observations highlighted program strengths and social challenges associated with the interpersonal relationships between the members of the dyads.

CONCLUSIONS

A community-centric diabetes program can enhance understanding of diabetes etiology, DSM activities, and communication skills for effective disease management support in under-resourced rural communities. Social capital among community members, leveraged with health information technology, can catalyze and integrate limited health system resources for DSM and social support as a cost-effective strategy to develop community-centric chronic healthcare management initiatives.

Effectiveness of the Family Portal Function on the Lilly Connected Care Program (LCCP) for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Retrospective Cohort Study With Propensity Score Matching

Background

Diabetes is a major health concern worldwide. Family member engagement in diabetes self-management education programs can improve patients’ diabetes management. However, there is limited evidence that the family portal on diabetes management apps is effective in the glycemic control of patients with diabetes.

Objective

We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of family support through the family portal function on Lilly Connected Care Program (LCCP) platform.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study included patients with type 2 diabetes recruited to the LCCP platform from September 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Propensity score matching was used to match family (group A) and non–family (group B) portal use groups with similar baseline characteristics. The patients were followed up with for 12 weeks. The main objectives were differences in mean fasting blood glucose, proportion of patients achieving fasting blood glucose target <7mmol/L, mean postprandial blood glucose, proportion of patients achieving postprandial blood glucose target <10mmol/L, proportion of patients achieving both fasting blood glucose <7mmol/L and postprandial blood glucose <10mmol/L, self-monitoring of blood glucose frequency at week 12 and the number of diabetes education courses patients completed during the 12 weeks. Moreover, logistic regression analysis was used to explore the baseline factors which may be associated with the use of family portal, and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated.

Results

A total of 6582 adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with type 2 diabetes who were receiving insulin therapy were enrolled in the study. Overall, 6.1% (402/6582) of the patients chose to engage their family members to use the family portal. Two groups of 394 patients were well-matched regarding baseline characteristics. After matching, mean fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose at week 12 were significantly lower in group A than in group B (fasting blood glucose: 7.12 mmol/L, SD 1.70 vs 7.42 mmol/L, SD 1.88, respectively, P=.02; postprandial blood glucose: 8.56 mmol/L, SD 2.51 vs 9.10 mmol/L, SD 2.69, respectively, P=.002). When comparing group A to group B, the proportion of patients achieving both fasting blood glucose <7mmol and postprandial blood glucose <10mmol/L at week 12 (46.8% vs 39.4%, respectively, P=.04), self-monitoring of blood glucose frequency at week 12 (8.92 times per week, SD 6.77 vs 8.02 times per week, SD 5.97, respectively, P=.05) and number of diabetes education courses completed in 12 weeks (23.00, IQR9.00-38.00 vs 15.00, IQR 4.00-36.00, respectively, P<.001) was higher. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher age (OR=0.987, 95% CI 0.978-0.996, P=.006) and higher baseline fasting blood glucose (OR=0.914, 95% CI 0.859-0.972, P=.004) were correlated with less use of the family portal function, while increased baseline self-monitoring of blood glucose frequency (OR=1.022, 95% CI 1.012-1.032], P<.001) as well as increased education courses (OR=1.026, 95% CI 1.015-1.036, P<.001) were associated with more use of the family portal function.

Conclusions

Family support through the LCCP family portal is effective for glycemic control and self-management behavior improvement in type 2 diabetes patients.

Reporting health data in waiting rooms with mobile technology: Patient expectation and confirmation

OBJECTIVES

Hospitals and medical staff use digital devices such as mobile phones and tablets to treat patients. Prior research has examined patient-reported outcomes, and the use of medical devices to do diagnosis and prognosis of patients, but not whether patients like using, and intend to use in future, mobile devices to self-report medical data. We address this research gap by developing a theoretical model based on the expectancy confirmation model (ECM) and testing it in an empirical study of patients using mobile technology to self-report data.

DESIGN

This study adopts a non-interventional cross-sectional research design. Randomly-selected patients provided data via survey and physical measurements. The target population comprises adults visiting a healthcare laboratory to get their blood drawn.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We surveyed 190 randomly-selected patients waiting for treatment in the clinic. They were surveyed at two points in time - before and after their blood was drawn - on their demographic characteristics, research variables concerning their use of mobile devices to provide medical information, and perceived clinical data (blood pressure, height and weight). The research model was tested using structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

The study found strong support for the research model, with seven of eight hypotheses being supported. Both self-disclosure effort and feedback expectation positively affect both perceived feedback quality and confirmation. Contrary to expectations, perceived feedback quality was not found to affect confirmation. Perceived feedback quality, along with confirmation, was found to positively affect satisfaction, which was found to affect intention to disclose medical data through mobile technology.

CONCLUSIONS

The study's findings support the proposed path from feedback expectation and self-disclosure effort to confirmation to satisfaction to disclosure intention. Although perceived feedback does not affect confirmation, it affects satisfaction. Overall, we believe the results provide novel insights to both scientific research community and practitioners about using mobile technologies for self-reporting medical data.

The Role of Text Messaging and Telehealth Messaging Apps

This article focuses on the role of text messaging and messaging applications, discusses technical and legal issues, and reviews current examples of the application of text messaging in the clinical adult and pediatric practice. Reviews of current examples of text messaging in adult and pediatric practice show uptake has been increasing substantially in recent years. In pediatric care text messaging has been used for behavior intervention and outcomes tracking. Although applications are promising, the potential of nonsynchronic messaging in the formal delivery of care is still in the neonatal phase compared with its grown-up existence in day-to-day modern life.

Mixed-Methods Randomized Evaluation of FAMS: A Mobile Phone-Delivered Intervention to Improve Family/Friend Involvement in Adults' Type 2 Diabetes Self-Care

BACKGROUND

Family and friends have both helpful and harmful effects on adults' diabetes self-management. Family-focused Add-on to Motivate Self-care (FAMS) is a mobile phone-delivered intervention designed to improve family/friend involvement, self-efficacy, and self-care via monthly phone coaching, texts tailored to goals, and the option to invite a support person to receive texts.

PURPOSE

We sought to evaluate how FAMS was received by a diverse group of adults with Type 2 diabetes and if FAMS improved diabetes-specific family/friend involvement (increased helpful and reduced harmful), diabetes self-efficacy, and self-care (diet and physical activity). We also assessed if improvements in family/friend involvement mediated improvements in self-efficacy and self-care.

METHODS

Participants were prospectively assigned to enhanced treatment as usual (control), an individualized text messaging intervention alone, or the individualized text messaging intervention plus FAMS for 6 months. Participants completed surveys at baseline, 3 and 6 months, and postintervention interviews. Between-group and multiple mediator analyses followed intention-to-treat principles.

RESULTS

Retention, engagement, and fidelity were high. FAMS was well received and helped participants realize the value of involving family/friends in their care. Relative to control, FAMS participants had improved family/friend involvement, self-efficacy, and diet (but not physical activity) at 3 and 6 months (all ps < .05). Improvements in family/friend involvement mediated effects on self-efficacy and diet for FAMS participants but not for the individualized intervention group.

CONCLUSIONS

The promise of effectively engaging patients' family and friends lies in sustained long-term behavior change. This work represents a first step toward this goal by demonstrating how content targeting helpful and harmful family/friend involvement can drive short-term effects.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT02481596.